With Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 48-48 tie vote, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Ayer District Court Judge Margaret Guzman to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Massachusetts.
President Joseph Biden first nominated Guzman last July, but the nomination died at the end of the last Congress and Biden renominated her this year.
The vote was unanimous in 2009 when the Governor’s Council confirmed Guzman to a Dudley District Court vacancy on the nomination of Gov. Deval Patrick.
The Washington, D.C.-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights lauded Guzman’s “historic” elevation Wednesday.
“Her experience as a fair and impartial state court jurist and her previous work as a public defender make her an excellent addition to the District of Massachusetts. Judge Guzman also becomes the first Latina to serve as a lifetime judge on this court, which is long overdue representation,” said Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the conference’s fair courts program.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called it “an historic day” and praised Guzman’s “exceptional understanding of our entire justice system with roots in the Worcester legal community as a public defender and deep expertise as a Massachusetts trial court judge.”
Guzman’s exit from the state District Court bench clears the way for former Rep. Harold Naughton to join the Judiciary. In a late-term appointment, Gov. Charlie Baker tapped Naughton to fill Guzman’s seat pending her departure.
Another Massachusetts judge is awaiting action in the U.S. Senate.
Boston Municipal Court Judge Myong Joun was nominated for the U.S. District Court last year, and renominated by Biden earlier this year. His appointment was placed on the Senate Executive Calendar on Feb. 9.
Baker did not select a candidate for Joun’s seat, which would be Gov. Maura Healey’s to fill if Joun wins approval in Washington.
Healey has not yet appointed members to a Judicial Nominating Commission to pre-screen candidates, though she has retained JNC Executive Director Emily Gauthier, who staffed the panel during the Baker administration.
Baker filled virtually all open judicial spots before leaving Beacon Hill, though one vacancy has arisen thus far under Healey’s tenure, according to the JNC: Judge Richard Carey’s spot on the Superior Court opened up Feb. 26.
Presiding over a quick Governor’s Council session Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll foreshadowed the heavier workload to come once the nominating process gets rolling.
After gaveling through approval of new notaries public, justices of the peace, and the Treasury warrant in less than a minute, the lieutenant governor said she’s been “taking advantage of having short [Council] meetings to get other work done.”
“Although these moments are short right now,” she said, “I know they’re going to get longer as we proceed.”
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